Failsafe
by Person002
Summary: Something was off about the Ghost. Batman's instinct was telling him not to trust her. And as usual, his instinct was right. "You didn't really think you were the only one with a contingency plan, did you?" One-shot.


**This little plot has been bugging me for a while...I wanted to write a lil something about it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Batman. **

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The first time Batman met the Ghost, he didn't know what to make of her.

He had been fighting a low-life thug in an alleyway. Though Batman was by no means losing, the fight normally would have been much easier. But Batman was recovering from a concussion and a broken rib, and he was tired from a long night of patrolling.

The man twisted, slugging Batman in the jaw with a powerful right hook. The punch caught him in his unprotected cheekbone, just underneath where the cowl ended. The thug was strong enough that the blow caused Batman to wince and stumble back. In the short time it took for the vigilante to straighten up, the Ghost swooped in.

She was covered from head-to-toe. Her head and hair were covered by a full-face mask, and she had a hood on. For a half-second, in the dim-light of the alley-way, Batman thought she was Spoiler.

The woman twisted as she landed on the ground, swinging her leg out in a powerful roundhouse. Her booted foot hit the thug's jaw, and the man's head snapped back as his eyes rolled back into his head. The woman turned around, facing Batman. She put her hands on her hips, looking at Batman up and down.

"Alright there?" Batman's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had never seen this woman before, and he kept careful tabs on any vigilante or villain in Gotham.

"Fine," he replied brusquely. "I was handling it."

"No kidding," the woman replied, tipping her head to the side. She glanced at the thug on the ground, noting the various injuries he'd sustained during his fight against the Dark Knight. "But I got bored." Her tone was flippant and teasing, like she expected him to play into the banter. Batman didn't respond. He reached into his utility belt, pulling out his grappling hook.

"You should stay off the streets," he told her, aiming his hook carefully. Behind him, the woman snorted.

"Rightttt." She dragged out the syllable. "This is _your _city." Her tone was sarcastic; teasing. Again, she seemed to expect him to play into the conversation. Batman rolled his eyes beneath his cowl. He didn't have time for this.

As he swung off into the night, the woman called out after him, her tone full of amusement. "Nice meeting you too!"

When he began his research on her later that night, he didn't find much.

It wasn't _hard_ to find out who she was. Her name was Natalia Suarez. She was a former beat cop, currently employed as a high-school science teacher. Unlike some other superheroes, she hadn't given herself a name. The press had dubbed her "the Ghost," and there were rumors circulating that she was associated with Batman, due to her Spoiler-esque outfit.

There was little else about her. She'd led a largely private life.

She was a good vigilante, Batman would give her that. She was strong and smart, restrained herself from lethal force. She generally stayed out of Batman's way on patrol, and never turned up to fight any of the super villains - she seemed to treat her vigilantism the same way she had when she'd been a cop. Fight for the little guy, clean up the streets a little.

"If you ever need my help," she told Batman when their paths crossed once again. He was pretty sure she meant generally, but he'd just mentioned the Joker's foiled escape two nights earlier.

She didn't sound overly hopeful or enthusiastic: it was an offer, not a wish. The Ghost seemed perfectly content to work alone. Batman nodded curtly.

"I appreciate that," he told her genuinely. Batman nodded at his son next to him, turning his back on the Ghost. "Robin. Let's go."

Batman crossed the rooftop, his cape swinging behind him. Robin followed his mentor, and the two heroes climbed back into the Batmobile, off to another part of the city. Robin started fiddling with the police scanner, and Batman slid his eyes to the rearview mirror.

The Ghost was standing on the rooftop, watching them go. Despite her masked face, Batman could tell her eyes were locked on the Batmobile, watching the two heroes as they departed.

Batman frowned beneath his cowl. Something felt..._off._

He couldn't ignore his unease. He combed through every file and report there ever was about Natalia Suarez. Again, he came up empty. The closest thing to a discrepancy he could find was a disputed speeding ticket from nine years back.

Her record was squeaky-clean.

Still, Batman felt on edge. He couldn't place the feeling, exactly, but his gut instinct told him not to trust the Ghost. He asked Oracle to flag her and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

Over the following months, she popped up every now and again. Without Batman really realizing it, they started a tentative partnership.

Honestly, it was barely a partnership. He still didn't trust the Ghost - then again, he didn't really trust anyone - but she had proven herself useful several times.

Batman didn't tell her much. She asked him questions sometimes, a note of curiosity in her voice, but always backed up, full of apologies when Batman clammed up. The Ghost wasn't allowed access to the Batcave or even the Batmobile. Batman didn't let Robin patrol with the Ghost alone. He certainly didn't tell her, or even give a hint to his secret identity.

"Oh, come on," she complained one night when he shut down her probing question. He didn't necessarily blame her for asking - she never had before, but Batman had just made an unthinking comment about her life. It was something small, so insignificant that he couldn't even remember now. But the Ghost was astute, and it was enough to tip her off that _he_ knew who _she_ was.

"I mean, it's not like it matters _that _much," she said when he didn't respond. "But you know who _I _am, and I didn't even _tell_ you - you didn't even ask!" She paused again, and then added, somewhat childishly, "Fair is fair."

"No."

The Ghost backed off. She swung away from Batman, muttering a few choice words under her breath as she left without saying good-bye. Ignoring her departure, Batman refocused on the streets below him, scanning for any sign of trouble.

After that, she was a little cooler towards him, less willing to attempt to banter or talk. Still, she showed up when he requested help - Robin was sidelined early in the patrol with a broken arm, and none of Batman's other partners/former protégés were in town. On the way to check out a sighting of the Penguin, another report came in of a bank robbery.

Without thinking, Batman contacted the Ghost. He'd given her a comm. link that was on a different frequency than the one he used with Robin.

"Armed robbery at Gotham National," he said shortly. "I need you to be there."

There was a long, incredulous silence on the other end. Then, "_Fine." _

At that point, Batman didn't recall that she'd been angry with him when he'd last seen her. He didn't remember until he came back to the bank after rounding up the Penguin.

He looked down at the scene. The Ghost was nowhere to be seen, but the cops were there, loading the would-be robbers into the back of an armored truck. He heard the rustle of Kevlar behind him, and he turned around.

"For the record," the Ghost said, standing on the other side of the roof. "I was on my way here when you called anyways." She lifted her chin haughtily. "I don't work for you." Batman stared at the woman again. He almost smiled.

"Good to know."

More time passed, and Batman's unease lay dormant for a long time. It wasn't until months after they'd been working together that he received a call from Oracle. It was late one night. Batman wasn't yet home - he was in a backup location of the Batcave, a stop-gap area in case he needed emergency medical supplies or was running low on weapons. Batman accepted the call.

"What is it?"

_"Remember that woman, Natalia Suarez?"_ Oracle asked, not bothering with pleasantries either. Her voice sounded urgent. Batman gave an affirming hum, and Oracle continued. "_Well, for a long time there was nothing. She seemed to be a pretty model citizen." _

"But?"

_"The other day, I got bored," _the woman on the other end of the line continued. "_And I __found something pretty...disconcerting, I guess. I was looking through her personal records, and here's the thing. Some of them just don't add up." _Batman frowned. "_At first I thought that it was just a mistake, or even that she'd been in WITSEC at some point. But after some more digging...it looks like Natalia Suarez doesn't _actually _exist." _

Batman sat back in his chair, confused. Despite his instinctive feelings towards the Ghost, he hadn't expected _this. _

"So who is she?" Batman finally asked. Oracle sighed on the other end, her fingers clicking against the keys as she scanned the screen.

_"I'm not quite sure yet," _she admitted. "_But I wanted to get you up to speed. Just a sec -" _Batman watched as his computer turned on by itself. Oracle had connected their two screens, showing Batman what she was looking at and hacking through in real time. Batman scanned the screen, his brow furrowing in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"She's CIA?" he asked. Oracle was currently poking through their databases, which was by no means a small feat. Oracle had done it before, but only when it was _extremely _necessary. She'd never been caught in that no one had ever been able to trace the hack back to her, but sometimes the government had noticed _someone_ snooping around.

Oracle didn't do this often, and the fact that she was alerted Batman to the fact that this was pretty serious. He sat forward in his seat.

"_Looks like it," _Oracle replied. _"Hang on - I see something." _Batman watched as the mouse moved over to a file. Oracle clicked on it, and then made a humming noise. "_Must be _something _good. It's at least triple encrypted." _She was silent for another moment as she began to hack her way into the file. Despite how protected it was, it didn't take her too long to crack it open.

"_Huh," _she said after a moment. Batman studied the results on the screen as well, also confused. Despite all the fanfare, there was almost nothing in the file. Just some technical jargon about an undercover taskforce, but it didn't say who they were or what they did. There was a list of names - all aliases, by the look of it, since Natalia Suarez was one of the people on the list.

"Track her," Batman said. This was getting to be a little too suspicious for his comfort. "I need to speak with her."

"_Already on it." _Batman could hear the clacking of the keyboard as she typed furiously on the other end. There was a pause and a sharp intake of breath. "_What the...Bruce. Where are _you?" Batman frowned at the odd question.

"South," he responded, knowing Oracle would understand his meaning.

"_She's moving...she's coming _towards_ you." _Batman clenched his jaw.

"I'll take it from here," he assured Oracle, hanging up before she had the chance to protest.

"How did you get in here?" Batman asked, not turning around. He recognized the Ghost's voice, and for the first time understood why she was there. Her footsteps echoed against the floor.

"A friend got the location from an associate of yours," the Ghost replied. Batman frowned disapprovingly, trying to remember who knew about this location. The Ghost laughed. "Don't be mad. Not everyone is as infuriatingly secretive as you." Batman pressed his lips together, realizing the true meaning of her words.

_Infuriatingly secretive. _She'd made slights like this before, and Batman always assumed she'd been taunting him. Now he realized that it came from a place of frustration.

Batman pressed his lips together, suddenly understanding. He was her mark, like his "associate" was her "friend's" mark. She was irritated because it was her job to know about him, and he'd made it difficult for her. The Ghost sighed, noticing the slight shift in his expression.

"Of course _I _get the smart guy," she muttered. "No one else saw it coming."

"Tell me about it," Batman suggested, referring to her job. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring her down. The Ghost stared back at him, incredulous.

"Tell you about - are you _kidding _me?" she snapped. "You know I failed, right?" she continued, crossing her arms over her chest. Her voice was suddenly angry. She sounded almost hurt, the sarcasm edging her words like a defensive layer to stop her from cracking.

"We all knew _the Dark Knight _would be the hardest to crack. No one thought I could do it. I wanted to prove to them that I _could. _Instead, I'm a joke. And now you expect me to give up _more _of my cover, just cause you've figured it out?"

Batman scoffed. He saw right through her act.

"Stop," he snapped at her. "I'm not stupid enough to fall for that." The Ghost sighed, her dramatics falling away. She crossed her arms over her chest, her posture unreadable once more.

"Fine. It was worth a try." Batman waited for her to continue, and she studied him. "I'll tell you," she said quietly. "Because I don't want you to think I'm your enemy." Batman stared at her, incredulous. The Ghost put her hands on her hips.

"Really," she said. She _sounded _sincere. "I'm not. We're not anti-vigilante, we're just pro-safety. And we're following orders."

Batman pressed his lips together, disapproving. He thought that she might as well just come out and be honest about it, but instead she was talking in circles. The Ghost saw his expression, and her voice got colder.

"Get the hell of your high horse," she ordered him. "You didn't really think you were the only one with a contingency plan, did you?" Batman didn't answer, and the Ghost continued. "Is this different?" she asked Batman. "I'll answer that for you - it's not. You can't be the only one to decide when someone needs to be taken out." Her tone was matter-of-fact. "It's - a failsafe. Not a plan."

"And what if the government's corrupt?" Batman asked her, not backing down. "What if they decide it's not about morality, but about power?"

"Then whether _they_ like it or not, I'll make the final call." Her tone was steady, assured. Batman scoffed. The Ghost spread her arms slightly. "That's the truth. Believe it or don't. I won't lose sleep either way."

The Ghost turned to walk away, the heels of her shoes clicking against the stone floor. She reached the exit and ducked into the fake-sewer tunnel that would take her outside to the streets of Gotham.

"What now?" Batman asked. The Ghost paused. She turned back, her figure just an inky blur against the dark tunnel. She tipped her head to the side.

"Well." There was a pregnant pause. "I guess we hope I never need to see you again."

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**please review and let me know what you ****thought! **


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